Lee County gene lab applying DNA research to cancer treatment

April 25, 2023, is DNA Day, marking 70 years since the discovery of the structure of DNA. In the following decades, scientists have used this information in everything from law enforcement to medicine. One of the most promising areas of research involves cancer, and one Florida genetics laboratory is putting DNA to the test.

It’s becoming more and more clear that the key to treating or even curing cancer is likely in our genes. Teams of pathologists, geneticists and other clinicians work day and night out of the Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute’s 50,000-square-foot lab in Fort Myers, analyzing tissue and looking for cancer-driving genetic mutations.

The institute supports close to 100 clinics across the state with next-gen sequencing labs.

Dr. Jennifer Gass is the associate director of the genetics lab at Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute.

“We are able to isolate DNA and also RNA out of these samples, and then analyze that through next-generation sequencing to look for any mutations or errors that we can find,” Gass said. “And a lot of times these errors, or mutations, have a therapy that can actually target that mutation.”

By understanding the mutations that allow cancer cells to replicate, doctors hope to direct treatment that will interrupt the process. This precision medicine is made possible by understanding DNA, along with a map of the human genome which was completed 20 years ago. As part of the sequencing process, individual patient samples are run in batches through machines where each one is mapped.

“We’re able to then start aligning it on that reference genome that we discovered from the Human Genome Project,” Gass said.

Solid tumors are sliced and put onto slides, and blood samples are also analyzed. This work is changing the dynamics of cancer treatment.

“Cancer used to be a one-size-fits-all chemotherapy, and now it’s this precision medicine,” Gass said. “So when we find these biomarkers and these mutations, we’re able to direct our therapy specifically for what’s going on in the patient.

Some experts call this the Golden Age of cancer research, with greater hopes for treatment and cures. Based on the amount of information in our DNA, however, today’s technology is only scratching the surface.

“Right now, we’re only looking at the coding parts of our genome, so 2% of our genome,” Gass said. “But there’s 98% that we don’t really understand what’s going on in this. And then, with our actual panel that we look at, we’re only looking at a little over 500 genes, and there’s well over 20,000 genes that each person has.”

Gass and other scientists hope looking at the code of life may hold the key to better health.

It took 13 years to map the human genome. When the Human Genome Project launched in 1990, it was almost a moonshot endeavor. Now, the same sequencing can be done in a matter of hours.